Rating
The Roottrees are Dead
A genealogical mystery straight out of 1998. Scour the early Internet for clues, uncover hidden connections, and piece together the family tree behind the secretive Roottree Corporation.
Details
- Released
- January 14, 2025
- Developer
- Evil Trout, Jeremy Johnston
- Genres
- Point-and-click · Puzzle · Adventure · Indie
- Publisher
- Evil Trout
- Platforms
- PC
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The Roottrees are Dead Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
It’s way past midnight, I’m chugging an ill-advised late-night coffee, and I’m intensely tapping my fingers, pondering what to type into a fake ‘90s-era search engine. I tell myself I’ll call it a night after I find one more lead confirming another relative’s place on their family tree. I would spend many evenings reciting the same lie to myself. The Roottrees Are Dead is an investigative mystery game that captivated, surprised, stumped, and, occasionally, infuriated me. It also b...
Never has putting a family tree together been so much fun. I couldn't put down The Roottrees are Dead once I started playing it, leaving me feeling like a true detective, searching web pages, library archives and more to piece together this intriguing family's history. This is a must-play for any puzzle fan.
A great detective game gets a lavish remake and an improved expansion in one essential package.
The Roottrees are Dead is an investigation game that requires real-life research skills. Originally released on itch.io for the Global Game Jam 2023 by solo dev Jeremy Johnstone, the Steam release has all-new illustrations, voice acting, a general improvement to UI and search functions, and an additional gameplay section called “Roottreemania” that unlocks after you finish the main game. Don’t let its low-budget look fool you into missing out on this rewarding, well-written detective game.
Uncover the dirty secrets of a wealthy American family with the help of the all-powerful dial-up internet.
Still, the game does a great job of letting players logically put together clues. It hides them well at the center of the Roottree's web, but the farther out it goes, it may grate over time. The writing is worth absorbing as players go along and this feels like a real family that could have existed. While this story is certainly told in a way that makes it one of the more unique mystery games out there, it's the method in which players are asked to discover it that holds it back.